http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dnc-pac-contributions-ban_us_58b1ac9ee4b0a8a9b782bb00 And they wonder why they lost so many voters... *sigh*
But that also might be suicidal aesthetics; what the DNC should do is jump out ahead of the issue with a massive transparency rule: Fine, we'll take whatever money is legal, but we're putting it on an open book and everyone can see. That's the kind of dare Perez should push; the problem isn't the money itself, but the appearance of corruption. (If you go back to NYT's 2014 award-winning coverage of cozy relations 'twixt industry and state attorneys general, the recently famous Bob Ferguson doesn't look quite as shiny. Various money wouldn't be so bad, for instance, if private-sector lobbyists weren't writing the goddamn legal arguments the states are taking to court. And, yes, I came across that bit because I was following up on the Pruitt email story.)
Except they won't push for such transparency... They had the opportunity all this time and didn't (in fact, Schultz went the other way on it)
Democrats have a great opportunity here. Anti-corruption needs to be a core theme with the party. The Republicans Party could aptly be named "Corruption R Us". Republicans brought us Citizens United and steadfastly resisted all efforts to take money out of our electoral processes. Corruption is the weak underbelly of the Republican Party. Calling for transparency is a good start. It's difficult to find a less transparent party than the Republican Party. Hell Trump hasn't released his tax returns as all presidential candidates for the last half century before him have done. Two: Democrats need to raise more funds in order to compete in local and state level races particularly in red states. Overall Republicans have out raised Democrats by some 211 million dollars during Obama's presidency. Three: Democrats need to find charismatic leaders, especially in red states. There is a dearth of charismatic leadership in both parties. Republicans have their Darth Vader in the form of the Kochs, who are funding and leading the party from behind the scenes. Democrats need truckloads of Luke Skywalkers to lead the party from the front. Democrats need a grand vision and they need to communicate it. I don't think Democrats have a grand vision. If they have one, they have done a piss poor job of communicating it, and that needs to change. Republicans have successfully used misinformation, fear, and hate to attain political power. Democrats need something better. They need a grand vision and they need people to execute that vision. They need a unifying vision and they have none. On the good side, on the people side, they have a few diamonds in the rough, e.g. Warren. But they need more, and they need to attack the weak underbelly of the Republican Party, i.e. corruption.
